West Cork co-driver Daniel Seaman and Mid Kerry’s Colin O’Meara have submitted one of the first official entries for the upcoming Rose Hotel Kerry Summer Mini Stages Rally.
The six-stage event, organised by Kerry Motor Club, takes place in Tralee on July 5.
The rally will mark O’Meara’s first competitive outing on a tarmac surface in his Peugeot 208 R2. To guide him through the North Kerry stages, he is calling on the growing experience of his Bandon navigator.
While this is their first foray onto sealed surfaces together, the pair have already established a strong working partnership this season.
They tackled two high-speed loose-surface events earlier in the year, including a fourth-place class finish on their debut at the Yeats Ridge Forest Rally in Sligo in February, followed by the Moonraker Forest Rally in April.
O’Meara is the son of well-known Kerry historic competitor Fergus O’Meara, while Seaman balances his active co-driving career with Automotive Management studies at MTU Cork and his role in the family business at Dan Seaman Motors.
“The transition to tarmac with Colin in July is something we are both looking forward to,” Seaman said. “We built a really good understanding in the car over the gravel rounds in Sligo and Youghal earlier this year. Kerry always puts on highly technical stages, and it will be a new learning curve for Colin on the tar, but the goal is steady progression.”
Before they team up for the July event in Tralee, Seaman faces a milestone of his own this weekend. He is set to make his Class 14 debut at the Circuit of Munster Rally in Limerick, navigating for fellow Corkman Kevin Dolphin in a Ford Escort Mk2 on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend.
“This weekend in Limerick is a massive step for me. It is a highly competitive class, and the extra speed will be brilliant experience that I can take back into the Peugeot cockpit in July,” he added.
